Kara had never slept this deeply before.
It was the kind of sleep where waking up only caused her to fall back asleep again. She turned to desperate measures and kicked the side of her bed with her left foot. Pain shot up her ankle, but it was just enough to wake her up entirely. She sat up and waited for a servant to come in, but that never occurred. The castle was still and quiet, as if everyone were still asleep in their beds. Kara checked her phone, which she had managed to put into the front pocket of her rose adorned jacket before Lily and her had gone through the Gateway.
The time read as 11:55 AM.
That couldn't be. Queen Iona and her servants would have to be awake by now.
Kara threw the cotton covered sheets off of Lily, but her friend took them back, snuggling deeper into her bed and into sleep. Kara thought of what to do, then came closer to her friend. She only ever used this as a last resort.
Kara crept closer to Lily, then tickled her by the armpits. Lily squealed and woke up fully, slapping her friend's hands away.
"What the-Kara?" she cried. "What was that for?"
"Getting you up. We've slept the day away and no one's come here to wake us up yet.
I think something's wrong."
Lily yawned drowsily. "Well, I think you're crazy. Let a tired girl get some sleep."
She was about to lay back down again, but Kara grabbed her wrist and pulled her back up.
"No," she said firmly. "Lily, don't.
Just come with me."
"Fine." The human girl got up at last, brushing oily strands of hair out of her face. Kara strode over to the door and opened it, gesturing for a still half conscious Lily to follow her.
The hallowed halls of the Fairweather castle were completely deserted. No lights had been turned on, no elves were scurrying about with trays of food or hampers of laundry.
In fact, nothing was going on anywhere.
The two girls moved as fast as they could through the halls, but soon came to a stop when they approached the entryway to the place. Tables and chairs had been knocked down and demolished, bits of wood debris threatening to lodges themselves in the girls' feet if they ventured too close. Dark violet stains lined the walls and floor, but there were no sources for the scattered blots. Lily gasped, then looked nauseated, and Kara soon saw why. One of the elves that had woken the two before was on the ground. A leg from one of the broken tables had been jabbed into his chest, and blood bubbled up from the wound.
Kara recognized the short, curly blond hair and the striped tie he wore. A shriek took her attention away from the badly injured servant.
"Eddie!"
Hillary and Axel had come into the room while the two girls hadn't been paying close attention. The prince looked alarmed, but his sister was horror stricken. She knelt by the elf and tried to dislodge the piece of furniture, but the little man, who was somehow still alive, pushed her hands away, looking agonized.
"Eddie, who did this to you?" she wailed.
"Who did this?"
Kara found it hard to watch their exchange.
As the man released rattling breaths, the table piece moved ever so slightly, and more blood trickled forth from his chest to stain his tie and shirt. "A beast," he rasped. "A demise beast..he was after..your mother.."
"Our mother?" Axel went up to Eddie with a concerned look on his face.
"What do you mean by that? Where is the queen? Is she alright?"
The elf shook his head, then shuddered, his face contorting in pain. "No..no, she has been taken..save yourselves..."
The servant grasped at the table leg that protruded from him, as if he meant to pull it out of himself. He then convulsed, more blood dripping from his mouth as he died.
Hillary shook the man desperately, but when he didn't move again, she let go of him and turned to her brother, burying her face in his shoulder as she sobbed. Axel noticed Kara and Lily and stopped her, his expression now a hostile one. "Hillary," he muttered angrily. "Our guests have finally shown up."
The princess raised her head. Her face was tear streaked, and her hair was messy and out of place. Her blue eyes widened at the sight of them. "Oh..it's you two. How much have you seen?"
"As much as you have." Kara saw her look at them both with suspicion, and she held her hands out. "We didn't know about this, your majesty. We only know as much as you do."
"No. You tell lies." Axel frowned. "You're working with the demise beasts."
Golden sparks rose up from his fingertips again. "Show me your hands."
Kara was puzzled by this. "My hands? Why?"
"Just do it."
Axel had clearly run out of any patience he might've had before. Kara nudged Lily, who was in a daze from seeing the prince again.
She smiled lovingly and held her hands out for him, palms up. Her manicured nails glittered as she moved them. Kara did the same, and Axel looked at them intently. "Show the other side, too," he said. "Now, you Flightless fools!"
They did as he asked, and Axel studied their hands again. He sighed and after a shirt while, looked away. "Never mind," he murmured. "They couldn't have destroyed this place, anyway, not without us knowing about it. Human plots are easy to figure out."
Hillary nodded, agreeing with him, but then something caught her eye, and she moved past him, walking over to a note that had been tacked to the nearest wall. "Axel, come see this," she said. "It's addressed to us."
Her brother obliged, and Kara turned to see what they were seeing. The note was written in sloppy writing, which made it obvious who had written it.

Ŧคเภwєคтђєภ cђเl๔ภєภ, y๏ยภ м๏тђєภ ภєรเ๔єร wเтђ мє ภ๏w. ๔๏ ภ๏т ๒є คlคภмє๔, รђє เร Ŧเภє, คภ๔ wเll ภємคเภ คร รยcђ เŦ y๏ย คgภєє т๏ мy тєภмร. мєєт wเтђ мє ๏ยт เภ тђє vเภєђєคภт Ŧ๏ภєรт, คภ๔ тภคภรŦєภ y๏ยภ мคgเc ๏vєภ т๏ мє. ๔๏ ร๏, คภ๔ y๏ยภ м๏тђєภ wเll ๒є ภєтยภภє๔ т๏ y๏ย, รคŦє คภ๔ ร๏ยภ๔. เŦ y๏ย ภєŦยรє, รђє wเll ๒є ๒ภ๏ยgђт т๏ тђє pภเร๏ภร ๏Ŧ тђє v๏เ๔, คภ๔ lєŦт тђєภє т๏ รтคภvє คภ๔ ๔เє. y๏ย ђคvє ๏ภє wєєк т๏ мคкє y๏ยภ cђ๏เcє. - ђยภภเcคภє

"It's written in fairy blood," Axel realized.
"Great Skies, they're going to kill her."
"Not if we agree to what he wants."
"But we can't do that! Hillary, we would be no better than Flightless without our magic. Besides, beasts hardly ever keep their word. Even if we gave them what they wanted, there would be no guarantee our mother would be returned to us. It's hopeless."
"No, it's not!" Lily said. "You could stop those monsters, couldn't you? I mean, you've got magic to fight them with."
Axel's eyes narrowed down to become practically slits on his face. "No, you idiot. It doesn't work that way. Beasts are immune to most spells. The only thing that can truly hurt them are magically charged weapons."
"Then find some!" Kara was angry now.
"God, Axel, don't you care at all?
You can't just give up on her!"
"We know that, but we don't know how to find her safely," Hillary explained. "Not only that, but the servants-they're all dead, every last one of them. Hurricane did this, which proves he's strong, strong beyond any monster we've ever fought before. How could we possibly defeat him?"
Silence hung in the air between them.
Kara had no answer to that question, and neither did Lily. Hurricane was feared by every fairy, and for good reason. What could they say when all hope seemed to be lost?
"It won't help any to just stand around here, looking sad." Axel looked to his sister, then straightened his collar. "We have to leave."
"Leave? Really?" Although it was a bit insensitive at the moment, Lily was excited at the thought of going somewhere new in a world she still didn't know much about.
"Where would we go?"
"To wherever a Gifted fairy would take us in."
Hillary shook her head, rubbing at her eyes, then stood up straighter, looking more calm.
"Let's leave now and gather our things."
Kara nodded, then went away to her room. Changing into her clothes from the day before and discarding her white, royally issued nightgown, she tucked the spell book beneath her jacket and headed out again. Lily insisted on keeping her gown on, since it made her feel like she was one of the royal fairies too.
Kara didn't object to this, but told her to keep it clean, since it was the property of some powerful fairies that already seemed to strongly dislike them both. Kara had no idea what would become of her now, but at least she had her best friend and two new allies by her side.

Shade ran across the ruined landscape of Outerworld, a new spring in his step due to his recovered memories. Once he found a spot free of too much rubble, the boy gathered the proper materials, and then spoke aloud the right incantation for a Gateway. The portal materialized quickly, stabilizing itself and becoming a door made of oak wood, with a brass knocker engraved with a line from the old Faerie language. It was engraved in many doors in homes of Lymeria.
Eamus caute, it read.
That meant "go carefully".
Shade was about to leave, but as he stepped forward, he stumbled upon something embedded in the dirt.
A ring.
It was carved out of fairy gold, a type of metal that would not burn a fairy if it came into contact with their skin.
Shade picked it up, and held it tightly in his hands. Maybe he would give it to Kara later. Girls usually like rings, right?
He turned to the door at last, and rapped against it with the broad knocker.
"Take me to Lymeria."
The door glowed, then swung open, revealing the crystal clear, cloudless blue skies of his home dimension. Shade stepped through it, then watched as the imprisonment realm vanished, along with the junkyard filled with twisted metal shards, and other junk from prisoners who had tried to escape and had ultimately failed. Shade hovered up over the treetops and soared until his house appeared.
The familiar chestnut colored roof, green shingles, and smoky chimney called out to him, like a song he had known all his life.
He let himself drop down a little, then landed with ease upon his porch. Shade knocked on the door, then waited for a response.
When a frail looking woman wearing an apron answered it, he was filled with the joyous feeling that recognition brought. This was the person who had raised him, the person who had brought him into this world along with his sisters. He had missed her. Now that he knew who she was, he couldn't keep himself away from her. Before the woman could do anything, Shade hugged her tightly, his head going against her shoulder. She stiffened against him, starting to cry. He laughed gently and hugged her tighter.
"Hi, Mom."